IT proved a weekend of mud and hills for Spirit of Monmouth runners in the Gwent League X-Country, the Doynton Hard Half Marathon and the Muddy Woody race.

Runners headed to Chepstow for the fourth Gwent League race on Saturday, hosted by Bristol and West AC.

Spirit’s women rounded up a full team to take on a rain-hit four-mile course with slippy downward slopes and uphill climbs.

Katie Adams was fourth over-45 and 27th woman overall in 32.23, Vicky Roberts ninth over-35 in 34.25, Sarah Baker 15th over-35 in 36.25, Renske Bouwens 10th over-50 in 37.39 and Marina Wright 19th over-45 in 41.55.

The men ran an extra lap (9.7km) on a churned up surface in the last race of the day.

The rain came in as they started, but Tom Chinnick in 110th in 39.55, Ben Saunders in 40.33, Barry Burns in 43.54, Matt Visser in 43.57, James Robinson in 44.13, Lee Davies in 46.53, Brian Evans in 50.35 and Mike Visser in 51.59 all ran well in difficult conditions.

Sunday saw Vicky Roberts, Jeremy Creasey, Nick Sloper and Cathy Fletcher return to the Doynton Hard Half, negotiating three loops centring on the south Gloucestershire village, including muddy climbs with ropes, deep fast flowing streams, and waterlogged fields with sloppy mud up to their knees.

Vicky finished in 2 hours 11 minutes five seconds for seventh in age and 12th woman out of 204.

Jeremy, buddying up with Brian Francis from Forest of Dean AC, came home in 2.52.52, while Nick said it was a “total mud fest” after finishing in 2.53.18, three minutes ahead of 2025.

Cathy returning for the fifth time said “it felt like I had weights around my feet”, but finished in 2.58.34

Louise Hartree also ran the Muddy Woody 6 in Hereford, and smashed it in 1.27.40.